Gundam SEED Novel- Insurection
by LONGWING
Summary: A year after the death of Durandel and the collapse of the Mobile Space Fortress Messiah, Kira and Athrun have joined the Orb military officially and now are stationed as part of a new stellar fleet that is too be deployed. This fanfiction follows young coordinator Raven Foret, as he is assigned to this new fleet with his life long friend Alexander Burton. Rated T for Language.
1. Chapter 1 - Ceremonies

**Alright, hi there readers. I'm LONGWING. I'm writing this story and updating the chapters about two or three times a week. While the chapters may be short at the beginning, they will become longer as the story progresses. The first captor has 1,060 words in it, so all chaptors beyond that should be longer. Anyways, hope you enjoy! :D Here's the first chapter:**

Chapter One- Ceremony's

Raven glanced around himself, looking for a familiar face. He was standing in a extremely large auditorium, full of kids his age and their parents, that was decorated with congratulations banners, and flags of Orb. He scanned the room, taking in all the other faces, but not recognizing anyone. He sat in the way back, allowing him full view of the rest of the room. He let out a rather loud sigh of exasperation.

The room was noisy; everyone was chatting, waiting for the ceremony to start. They were all dressed in a like manner; all wore the cadet's uniform of Orb, having just completed their training they were being assigned to their future posts on various ships. The room was separated into two halves, one had kids who were wearing an orange cadet uniform, and the other half, where Raven was sitting, were wearing blue cadet uniforms. Raven knew what the divisions were; mobile suit pilots, and the technicians, he was the former, all the parents sat to the left and right of the stage. He let out a sigh, his friend wasn't anywhere to be seen, but then again, that friend had a flare for dramatic entrances.

"Hurry up. What the hell is taking you so long?" Raven muttered under his breath. He took another glance around before returning his attention to the stage as the head drill instructor stepped onto it.

"Welcome," he paused for a moment to look at all the students, and their parents, making sure he had all of their attention. It resulted in a rather sudden, sharp change in the atmosphere as the room fell silent. "To the graduating class of 75 in the Cosmic Era's assignment to ships. This will be where their journey begins, and where life becomes real for them. This year we have over two thousand cadets, and we are extremely proud of them. Now, we shall get started. I shall call out the names of the Cadets one at a time, at which point they will come and join me up on stage, and I will had them their assignment orders. They will then exit the door behind me where their parents can go see them. A note to all cadets, you are all to report to your ships at eighteen hundred today," Raven shuddered. He had no parents, his were killed when they were at Junius Seven when it was destroyed. Raven stared intently at the instructor waiting for him to speak again. "Isabelle Acton," the instructor said, as the first person in the front row of technicians stood up and received her orders.

Raven sighed, the ceremony dragged on and on. He glanced at the clock as they finally started giving orders to the pilots. It was three in the afternoon, and the ceremony had started at noon. He sighed again, and looked around for his friend, yet again. More and more kids took their orders with beaming smiles, and it dragged on. An hour and a half later, the instructor suddenly stopped calling names, and glanced around the room again, making sure he had everyone's attention. "Now, we have forty cadets remaining. These cadets will receive a two rank promotion, as they are the top of their class. They are our Ace's. Now, we shall begin with the same format. However, they will not have time to spend you, parents. I'm sorry, but they must report directly to their ships," Raven's fear spiked immediately, his friend wasn't here. Why wasn't he here?

As if on cue, the doors behind the instructor burst open, and in strolled a handsome brown haired boy. He was of average build, stood five eight, and had pearl white teeth. Raven rolled his eyes, and cupped his hands around his mouth. "What took ya so long jackass?" Raven called across the auditorium. His friend did the same and called back, "Sorry, too many chicks were at my door!" All the kids there broke out laughing. The instructor, on the other hand, didn't look so happy. "Mr. Burton, would you kindly take a seat? Some of us care about being on time and not a disturbance," came the monotone voice of scrutiny. "Alex, I saved a seat for you," Raven said as his friend approached them. Alex sat beside Raven, a grin beaming on his face.

"Asshole," Raven muttered to his friend. "Asshat," came the usual response. The instructor had started calling out names again, and almost half the kids were gone. Raven watched as the entire auditorium cleared out accept for the two of them and the instructor. Raven stood up, followed by Alex and they sprinted down the aisle together to the stage. The instructor glared at the two of them, before the threat vanished, replaced by pride. "And the top of the class, tied with the highest possible score, are our two top ace's. Alexander Burton, and Raven Foret. Congratulations." Raven accept his piece of paper, and bowed his head to his former instructor. "Thank you sir, it really was fun," Raven said, a smile on his face. "Yeah, we're gonna miss you," Alex said, offering his hand to the man. "Call me Dearka. And hey, I'm only a few years than you, I shouldn't be feeling nostalgic like this," Dearka said, ruffling Alex's hair. Alex retracted his hand, "Well, you were on the Le Creuset team, with Athrun Zala. We should definitely be showing more respect." Dearka let out a laugh, light and hardy, "Well, sure. But it's a shame, you boys are being assigned to two different ships. I'm sorry about that, I tried but even Athrun wasn't able to do anything about it."

Dearka's words visibly struck Raven and Alex. They had a stunned look on their faces and their shoulders were tense. "Hey, lighten up. I have a little extra info for you guys. You guys get a three rank promotion, so that means you have as much authority as any other Lieutenant Commander." Alex and Raven grinned, they knew that they had earned it too. "Sir, we best be on our way. Thank you for everything again," Raven said, saluting Dearka. Alex mimicked Raven, and stood at attention. Dearka brought his hand up, and saluted the two back. All three put their hands down, and Raven and Alex left the room.


	2. Chapter 2 - Assignment

Chapter Two- Assignment

Alex and Raven walked silently down the corridor, walking like automated machines. It was an awkward silence, one rarely shared by the two. It was full of nostalgia, remembering each other from their earliest memories.

Alex had been abandoned as a child, and Raven's family took him in. But that joyful peace ended when Junius seven was destroyed. Raven and Alex were both first generation coordinators, that meant his parents were naturals, visiting the plants. Raven and Alex were like brothers, inseparable. Both were devastated by the death of Raven's parents, and the sadness that followed had lead Raven to almost kill himself. When the First Bloody Valentine war broke out, both of them were ready to jump at the chance to join the ZAFT Military when they were old enough, wanting revenge for Raven's parents. Family friends talked the two boys out of their rage, and got them to go back to school get an education. At the age of fifteen, both Alex and Raven graduated from the top ranked university in Orb with top scores. But they weren't naturally gifted in anything, though they did have enhancements due to them being coordinators. They achieved that goal through hard work and tenacious effort. They had great pride in their accomplishments, but were still aggravated with the current state of affairs with the world. A couple months before they graduated Armory One was robbed, and the second bloody valentine war started. After they graduated, they decided to enlist in Orb's military to try and get their country out of the alliance. After only a month of training, the war ended. But both of them had been excited to go on, and so with the same hard work and effort that they showed with the university, they showed with their military training.

"Hey Raven?" Came Alex's voice, penetrating the cold silence. "Yeah?" Raven responded, glancing at his friend. "How come we came this far, only to be separated?" His friend's usual perky voice and upbeat attitude was gone, replaced with the more skeptical side of him. Raven sighed, "I don't know. All I do know is that we should continue to try our best. That's all we can do for now, later we can think about what will be right, and what will be wrong. Right now we can only focus on moving forward into tomorrow, for that's where we will find those answers." Alex nodded, and the two stopped as the came to a large door. "Well, this is the door to the hanger. I'm assigned to the Armageddon, what are you assigned to?" Raven incited the question, hoping to bring Alex out of his funk. "Oh, ah, I'm on the Dominion," was his response. Raven raised an eyebrow, "I've never heard of these two ships, have you?" Alex shook his head, and shrugged. Raven reached forward and pressed a button on the side panel, opening the door. "Well, I'll be glad to get off this base," Raven said, chuckling. Alex let out a short laugh, and stepped through the door into the small room with Raven.

Alex pressed a button on this side of the door and it closed. "_Please brace for entering zero gravity environment._" A mechanical voice rebounded off the walls, and into their ears. Alex and Raven grabbed onto one of the bars that lined the ceiling and loosely hung onto them. "_Entering zero gravity environment,_" the same voice said, as Raven and Alex's feat left the ground, and they experienced weightlessness.

The door opposite of the one they had entered through opened, and light flooded in. A large harbor full of Izumo-Class ships appeared before them. Raven pulled himself through the door, and grabbed the railing on the other side of the door, while Alex mimicked him. A man in an purple pilots suit approached them, pulling himself along the railing quickly. "You two must be the top aces, am I right?" Came a distinct voice through the helmet. Raven and Alex saluted him, and said in unison, "Yes sir." A chuckle came through the helmet, "Alright then, you two follow me, I'll show you your ships."

And as quickly the man had come, he took off. Raven and Alex wasted no time before following him, glad they wouldn't have to look for their ships manually. The pilot dropped back, and started talking to the two. "This is the Artemis II Base, controlled by Orb. Its signature features include its lightwave barrier, forty ship harbor, fifteen ship repair bay, and deep space communications abilities. Here is where the majority of Orb's ships are at the moment. Morgenroete has a R and D facility here, as well as civilian facilities for those who come here as refuges." Raven and Alex already knew all of this, as they followed the pilot into a corridor near the entrance to the harbor. After another fifteen minutes of following the pilot, and wondering where the heck they were going they finally stopped in front of a large thick door, with a keypad to the right of it. While Raven and Alex stared at the door, wondering what the hell they were doing here, the pilot went over the keypad and typed in a code of some sort. A few seconds later the door started to move up, revealing a large mobile suit hanger.

"Welcome to Morgenroete's hanger," the pilot said, taking off his helmet. "I'm Mu La Flaga, and that," he gestured at a shining gold suit, "Is my mobile suit." Raven and Alex's jaws hung open as they met a legendary Ace who was already an insanely good mobile armor pilot, but also flew with the Archangel. "Those two suits over there are yours," Mu said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder at two grey suits. Raven and Alex's jaws seemed to drop further at the sight of the mobile suits. "A-a-are you sure there hasn't been a mistake? I mean, how could I pilot that kind of suit? It's not meant for me!" Raven stumbled over his own words turning and facing Mu, his surprise evident by the overwhelmed expression on his face. "Well, your friend seems to think it is," Mu said, glancing somewhere over Raven's right shoulder. Raven looked over his shoulder, seeing Alex gliding through the air towards the further suit.

"Alex!" Raven yelled, to which hAlex looked at Raven and said, "Raven, we are the two top_ aces. _It kinda makes sense that if they had them, they would give them to us." Raven stared dumbfounded at his lifelong friend. He looked to Mu for help, but Mu simply gestured back at Alex. Raven looked back at the suits, before saluting Mu once, and kicking off, gliding towards the closer suit. He stared at it, looking at its edges, its vents, its huge legs, arms, torso, and head. He then shifted his eyes to its wings. The feeling of excitement he got at Christmas time when he opened a present surged through him, fueling his adrenaline as he reached it head, and pushed down. He grabbed the seat, and pulled himself into it. He glanced at his friend, before both of them facepalmed themselves.

"What about our Pilot suits?" Raven called down to Mu. "You'll get them later, for now just get in the Freedom and follow me!" Mu yelled back, boarding his own suit. Raven and Alex grinned, and descended into their suits. "Alright you two, follow my lead," Mu's voice rang through some sort of com inside the mobile suit, his face appearing on a screen to his upper right, and Alex's on his upper left. Raven felt the Freedom move sideways, as the three of them we're being led to a linear catapult. Mu's voice sounded again as he said, "Mu La Flaga, Akatsuki launching!" And shortly afterwards, he heard Alex say, "Alexander Burton, Justice. I'm on my way." His suit moved again, and space came into view as he got onto the catapult. "Raven Foret, Freedom. Taking off," Raven said, grinning.


	3. Chapter 3 - Briefing

Chapter Three- Briefing

Raven felt the adrenalin pumping through his veins as he was launched, falling in love with the hum and vibration of his new suit. He opened up a private video com line with Alex and said, "Wow, I can't believe this. We're going to be piloting the Justice and the Freedom!" Raven felt the excitement rush up, and realized how he felt like a little giddy kid who just got the toy he had been wanting. "I'm so excited! I can't believe it either! Is this what girls feel like when they get new shoes?" Raven laughed at Alex's last statement, glad he was out of his rut, and back to his good old normal Alex self. "Cut down on the chatter you two, we're approaching our destination," Mu's voice came with his face as the monitor brought up an image of nothing. Raven knit his eyebrows before saying, "Mirage Colloid?" Mu chuckled, "I heard you two were good, but I didn't think your instinct were that good." Raven and Alex rolled their eyes, and followed the leading gold suit.

"This is Mu La Flaga, piloting the ORB oh, oh, one. Akatsuki, come in Apollo base," Mu's voice had a sound of tension in it, as if he was nervous. "We read you Mu, bring the two pilots in, we are disengaging the Colloid now," came a female voice through their coms. And true to those words, as large asteroid materialized into view. Mu headed for a spot on the surface where it was shifting, revealing a harbor door. "Well, at least they answered," Mu said, all the tension that had been in his voice earlier gone. They entered the harbor, following the Akatsuki towards a platform. "_Sealing Harbor door, standby. Harbor door sealed, depressurizing Harbor," _A mechanical voice sounded throughout the harbor, being picked up by the Freedom's sensors. _"Harbor depressurized." _

"Alright you two, you can come out of your suits now," Mu's voice came through the coms, letting them know to exit. Raven pressed a button and felt his safety belt undo itself and retract while his seat rose. He had landed next to the Justice and Akatsuki, but in front of a railing for the pilot to use. He launched himself to the ground, twisting his body so that he absorbed the impact with his feet, slowing himself down and grabbing the railing by the floor. Mu and Alex landed next to him, with Alex muttering something about Raven being a showoff. Raven grinned, and Alex flipped him off as Mu went further into the Base. They followed him, and entered the gravity section before stopping in front of large set of double doors, about ten feet tall. Mu knocked once, and the door opened almost immediately. A young man with light brown hair and purple eyes stood behind it. "Come on in Mu, Murrue is waiting for you guys," came a soft voice from the young man.

Mu entered the spacious room, and Raven and Alex followed. The young man closed the door behind them and walked towards the other side of the room. On the other side of the room was a long table, at which Mu had just sat down at and the Young Man had also just had a seat. In front of it were two plain chairs, obviously meant for Raven and Alex.

Raven scanned the faces at the table, there were six people total, but only one stood out in particular. To the right of the Young man was a young lady who had pink hair and bluish eyes, she was extremely commonly seen during the second bloody valentine war. She was Lacus Clyne. An older women with brown hair spoke up, "Have a seat you two, we have a bit to discuss." Raven and Alex took their seats and looked at the women, uncertainty in their eyes. "Now, first things first. You two are the top of your class, and have received the tile of Ace. Raven Foret, you have been assigned to the Armageddon and have been given the z-g-m-f, x-one-oh-a Freedom. Alexander Burton, you have been assigned to the Dominion and have been given the z-g-m-f, x-oh-nine-a Justice. Is that correct?" Raven and Alex nodded their heads, waiting for what she was going to say next. "My name is Marrue Ramius, and I am the Captain of the Archangel. You've already met Mu La Flaga, and I'm sure you've recognized Miss Lacus," Marrue said, staring intently at the two boys, who nodded again, a little intimidated. To your right of Miss Lacus, is Cagalli Yula Athha, chief representative of Orb. And to your right of her is Athrun Zala," she said, glancing briefly at him before returning her gaze to the two boys. Raven and Alex held their breath as they stared at him, as if they were unsure if he was real or not. "Hi," Athrun said, to break the tension. Raven and Alex said hi back, but still seemed like they were in a trance. "And the boy who opened the door for you two gentlemen is Kira Yamato," Raven and Alex's heads turned in unison to stare at Kira.

Mu started to laugh, "Look at them, you just told them that the two people whom they look up to the most and want to aspire to be are sitting right in front of them. Just tell them what you want to tell them Marrue, and be on your way." Marrue nodded. "Alright, so this is Apollo Base, it is cloaked by a Mirage Colloid and also has a deployable Lightwave Barrier, but the Mirage Colloid needs to be disabled or else the power output is too high. It has also harbor, designed to hold ten specific ships. It holds three _Archangel_-class ships, five _Izumo_-class ships, two _Girty Lue-_class ships, and the _Eternal_. All of which are currently docked here. You two are being assigned to the two other Archangel-class ships, and we'll all be travelling together. Any questions?"

"Why are we going to be travelling together?" Raven asked at the same exact time Alex asked, "Why are we being assigned to separate ships?" Mu started to laugh again, before he said, "One at a time, I know you have a lot of questions, but take them one at a time." Marrue nodded at him, before returning her attention to Raven and Alex, "Raven, do you have any questions?" Raven took a deep breath in before responding. "Well, I want to know who you mean by 'we' and why will we be travelling together?" It was Cagalli's turn to speak, "Because you are a part of Orb's fifth Fleet which is comprised solely of these ten ships." Marrue nodded at Raven confirming her answer.

"How about you Alexander? Any questions?" Alex smiled, "Well, why are we being assigned to separate ships? I thought it would be better if we were assigned to the same ship, that way we can take advantage of our teamwork." Marrue smiled back at Alex, "Well, we don't want any of the _Archangel_-class ships to lack such skilled Ace's such as yourselves." Alex nodded, comprehending what she said, but not her sarcasm.

The six of them stood up, and Raven and Alex followed suit. "Dismissed. Report to your assigned ships," Cagalli said while Alex played with his hair. He stopped, stood and saluted her, Raven doing the same until she saluted them back and exited the room. Raven slumped back down into his seat and sighed. "Well, I guess we won't be seeing each other for a while," Raven said, glancing at Alex who was looking at his reflection on the desk. "Well, I'm heading over to the Armageddon, see ya bro," Raven said to Alex, before walking to the door and opening it. "Wait, hold up," Alex said, causing Raven to turn around. Alex suddenly hugged Raven, and Raven hugged him back. "This'll be the first time since-" Alex was crying, Raven knew he was. "Since Mom and Dad were killed on Junius seven, yeah. I know. But C'mon, we'll make it through. Remember, keep moving forward and always try your best, got it?" Raven said, patting his friends back. Alex and released Raven and took a step back, wiping his eyes. "Well, that was a totally uncool thing to do. Might make us seem gay," Alex grinned, and Raven snorted and before backing out of the room.

They went back the way that they had come, entering zero-gravity again. When they reached the railing they scanned the Harbor, seeing that the Captain had been correct, there was indeed ten ships. Two that looked like the Archangel, but with different paint jobs were next to the real Archangel. Docked above them were two ships that Raven had never seen before, but assumed that they were the _Girty Lue-_class ships the Captain had mentioned. Next to them was a Pink ship which could only be the _Eternal_.

"Well, looks like they already took the Freedom and Justice away, I'm guessing that they're already on the ships," Raven said walking over to a screen and panel on the wall. He tapped a few keys, glancing over his shoulder at the ships before saying, "Looks like the black and red one is the Dominion, and the black and blue one is the Armageddon." Alex nodded and glanced at his friend, "Well, I guess it's gonna be a while before we see each other again. Don't die Asshat." Raven grinned, "Don't die Asshole."


	4. Chapter 4 - Armageddon

Chapter Four- Armageddon

Raven watched as his friend launched himself across the hanger, until he was a small speck in the distance. He sighed to himself, and looked at where he was supposed to go. The Armageddon, it was a magnificent ship, identical to the Dominion, except for the fact that the areas where the Dominion was painted red, the Armageddon was painted blue. He let out another sigh, this one sound more like it was for the events that were to come.

He placed a foot on the wall behind him, and kicked off, propelling himself towards the open catapult deck. As he slowly glided through the open area in the hanger, he turned himself to see his surroundings, taking in the bright lights, and the other ships. He turned himself just in time to see the floor of the catapult deck, right before his face plowed into it. His body contracted and he rolled across the flat surface, his back crashed into the wall, halting his movement.

He groaned and reached up to his neck, it was a little sore from the whip lash. "Dammit, why the hell did I do that?" He muttered to himself, glancing up as a shadow blocked out the artificial lighting. A girl stood before him, leaning over, a face of anger clearly painted onto her face, as if the artist had wanted to make the painting portray the whole world being pissed off. "The fuck are you doing?" Her voice boomed at him, to which he instinctively brought his arms across his face, as if trying to block the words. "I'm coming to this ship, what do you think I'm doing?" Raven retorted, not appreciating the act of blatant disrespect. He looked at her collar, seeing that it had a single red stripe, before looking her back in the face. "Ensign, I don't think that's how you treat a superior officer, is it?" He said, slightly smug with his new superiority. He stood up and dusted himself off, before looking at her and actually taking in what she looked like. She stood shorter than him, probably around 5' 10", and had long dark brown hair that went to her waist. If had to guess her age, he would say around the same as his, sixteen. Her face showed her to be from west Europe, and guessing by her amber colored eyes she was from Italian decent.

"Superior officer? Like HELL!" She yelled at him, a growl in her voice. "For your information, I'm one of the pilots of the Strike. Now, I'm supposed to be inspecting the number two catapult, but instead I find some _kid _screwing around, now I'm going to be personally dragging you to the bridge, got it?" As she finished her tirade, he felt his shirt suddenly get pulled forward, as he watched the girl and the wall fly by from him being thrown across the hanger. He twisted his head around, to see the brunette coming after him. He braced himself for impact with another wall, only to feel the back of his collar yanked, dragging him in another direction. He groaned as he was pulled through a door way, and into the main section of the ship. He felt the gravity and immediately face-planted the floor. He stood up, and shrugged off her hand. "I can walk myself, thank you very much. Besides, I need to check in with the Captain. I'll follow your lead to the bridge," he said, beckoning his hand forth in the direction of the lift.

She growled under her breath, but complied and together they headed towards the lift. She pushed the call button, but refused to look at him, instead she stared at the closed door to the lift. Her stubborn features made her attractive, in a cute childish sort of way. Raven couldn't help but grin, he'd never been this close to a girl before, and to actually think one was cute, well, he just couldn't hold back his amusement. The door opened right before he was going to make a comment, causing him to shut his mouth as quick as it had opened.

He stood in the lift silently as it continued to rise, the only noise was the slight whir that was caused from the motors pushing the lift up. The silence continued to drag on, and it became extremely irritating to Raven, who almost always had Alex around to talk to.

"So, how long have you been a mobile suit pilot?" He asked to break the silence, and out of curiosity. If he had to guess, he would say she had been piloting a mobile suit for about six months or less. "Nine months, but I graduated from the academy over a year and a half ago," she said, a slight sound of arrogance in her voice. Before he had a chance to respond, the lift door opened up, revealing the dark bridge. "Captain!" She said as she propelled herself onto the bridge.

Raven followed, his obvious sense of stupidity being broadcasted throughout the room. He took everything in, the glass panes with the view of the harbor beyond them, the monitors, the sub-bridge, everything. His attention turned towards where the Ensign had stopped. She stood in front of a chair with another woman in it. He quickly pushed himself so that he stood next to her, and snapped to attention, figuring the woman in front of him on the chair was the captain. His assumption was confirmed as he glanced at her collar, and then at her left breast.

"Young man, if you please. I may be attractive, but I'm still older and you're commanding officer," came the light cheery voice of the captain. Raven turned his attention back to her face, and immediately blushed. "I was merely checking your rank ma'am," he said, trying to justify his actions. She smirked, before turning her attention to the girl. "Ensign Laurence, why are you here?" She asked, as the Ensign's face went from irritated to blank. "I am here to report this cadet, whom I found messing around on the catapult deck," was her quick response. Raven grimaced as she reported her misinterpreted observation of the situation. The Captain nodded and looked at the both of them. "State your name and rank," she said calmly, her head leaning on her hand. The Ensign saluted at the same exact time as Raven, and she said, "Ensign Freya Laurence ma'am!" Raven took a breath in, and almost yelled, "Lieutenant Commander Raven Foret! Ma'am!"

The Captain nodded at Raven before saying, "Thought so." She turned her attention to Freya, who was glaring at Raven, as if he had clearly lied about his rank. "Ensign, this young man is the Pilot of the Freedom, if you disrespect him again; he has grounds to punish you based upon insubordination. Lieutenant Commander, do you wish to pursue that option?" Even as she proposed the question, in his mind Raven had already said no.

He shook his head and said, "No ma'am. She had no way of knowing of my rank, as I have yet to receive my uniform." The Captain nodded, and waved her hand, dismissing both of them. Raven nodded and headed back towards the lift at the rear of the bridge. As he entered the small elevator he heard Freya's voice behind him, "I'm sorry Lieutenant, but it still doesn't mean I like you." Raven nodded and waited for the lift door to close as she entered it beside him. As it did, he heard the Captain say, "We have just been given the all clear to launch. The Harbor is depressurized, prepare to launch the Armageddon!"

"Looks like we're about to launch," he said, glancing at the Ensign as the door fully closed. She was staring at the floor, and she was obviously not paying attention to him. Deciding not to disturb her, he waited in silence. When the door finally opened, he let out a breath of relief he had not realized he had been holding. He glanced back to see that the Ensign had yet to exit the lift, but shrugged it off. He headed to the gravity section, deciding to check out his quarters.

As he walked down the corridor, he was looking at the names on the doors, muttering the names to himself as he went by. He eventually stopped at one as he said its name out loud, "Lieutenant Commander Raven Foret." He smiled to himself while he pushed his access code into the panel, causing the door to slide open.

It was pretty basic for crew quarters, a single bed, a desk, a shelf for personal belongings, and a table. He sighed, he knew this was what he should have expected, but it was less than what he had been hoping for. He glanced at the bed, his duffle bag had already been brought up, and his new uniform was on a hanger, laid upon the desk. He grinned; he was going to enjoy his new position.

He picked up his uniform and looked it over; it was a pale blue, with a blue trim boarder on the seams. On the collar there were two stripes, one yellow, and one green, with the yellow above the green.

That's when it happened.

That's when he first thought the world could go to hell.

**Hi! Well, this is the fourth chapter for this week, I hope you like it so far :) The fifth chapter is where the action kicks off, so hopefully you'll come back and read this (though you probably won't) when I post it. Thank you! Don't forget to leave me a review or two; I take all suggestions, criticism, and compliments!**


	5. Chapter 5 - Sabotage

Chapter Five – Sabotage

The ship shook violently, and Raven was thrown across the room. He groaned as he was smashed into the bed. He leaned forward and grabbed hold of the shelf, and pulled himself towards the door. Another explosion sounded and the ship shook violently, a split second later the lights turned a dim red and a siren blared out. "Attention all crew members, to level one battle stations. I repeat, to all crewmembers, to level one battle stations," the Captains voice rebounded off the walls of his small cabin.

"Shit. What the hell is happening," he muttered under his breath. He made his way to the door and opened it, pushing out of it and into the hall. The ship rattled as another explosion happened. "Are these detonations inside or outside the ship?" He wondered. He slowly made his way down the corridor, stopping at the door to the changing room. He entered and scanned the names on the lockers in the room, finding his name upon one of them. He grabbed the wall and pulled himself to it, before opening it.

Inside there was a helmet and pilot suit. He grabbed the suit and looked at it. It was the standard outfit, with one exception. It was light grey on black, with a red trim, instead of the normal colors. He smirked; he was a true ace now. He quickly slipped out of his uniform and into his pilot suit, before moving quickly out of the room, and heading towards the lift.

The wait in the lift seemed like an eternity, six times since the first explosion. That's how many explosions have happened since the first one. He grimaced, what the hell was going on? Were they under attack? If so by whom?

He groaned and bashed his helmet against his forehead, right before the door opened, revealing the hanger. He finally got a good look at the hanger. It was massive, and had racks containing different mobile suits. He saw that there were pairs, five to be exact. But he didn't stay long enough to tell what type of Mobile Suit they were; he was already moving towards his Freedom.

As he approached, he noticed a few mechanics by it, and that some of the left leg armor was taken off. "Hey!" He yelled to them, "Can I take out the Freedom?" He watched and saw that they shook their heads. He got close enough to touch one of them before he said, "Then what the hell am I supposed to do?" He grabbed one of their collars and shook the man violently, as if trying to get his answer by shaking it out of him. "The Captain said you were to take out one of the Aegis if we couldn't get the Freedom done in time," one of the other mechanics said, to which Raven turned his piercing glare towards him. "What the hell is going on right now? What are all of these explosions? Are we under attack? What is the enemy's stre-" He was cut off by a hand raised by the mechanic. "I don't know the details, but I do know that we are under attack from an enemy. Apparently, the Izumo-class ships have all been blown to bits, and the Archangel-class ships, the _Girty Lue-_Class ships, and the _Eternal_ were the only ones to survive. Ask for the details later, right now we have to get you out into combat, you got it?" Raven let loose a piercing glare at the man, but released his shaken up hostage. "Which one is the Aegis?" He demanded, still glaring at the man. His response was to point at one of the mobile suits on another rack. "Thank you," Raven said before kicking off again, heading towards the mobile suit.

He grabbed the edge of the hatch, and threw himself into the cockpit, twisting so that his back impacted the seat, and he was ready for the controls. He closed the hatch and loaded the operating system, before booting up the coms. "This is Raven Foret in the Aegis. What is my launch line-up?" he called to the bridge before a window popped up on his primary monitor, reading "General Unilateral Neuro-link Dispersive Automatic Maneuver." He typed in the command to bring up the control pattern of the mobile suit. He groaned, it was a long one.

"Aegis, this is command. You are number four in the launch line-up. Prepare to launch in two minutes," said a voice through his coms. "Copy that," he responded, beginning his modification of the operating system, in order to make it easier for him to operate. He glanced at the timer on the top right corner of his screen. One minute until he launched. "Moving Aegis to catapult deck number two," came the same voice through his com. He felt the suit start moving, and the monitors came online, giving him full view around him. He watched as the hanger moved out of his view, and space moved into his view.

"This is Raven Foret in the Aegis, I'm launching," Raven said, pushing the control sticks forward, and propelling his suit into space with the help of the catapult. His first thought was, _The hell happened? Where did all this wreckage come from? _His attention was attracted to the six surviving ships. He sighed in relief, the Dominion had made it. He took another look around, using his scanners as well. A total of ten mobile suits had launched. He raised his eyebrows, surprised at what the units were. There were the three strike units deployed, and based upon the readings two had the Aile Strike pack, and one had the Launcher Strike pack. He sighed, before opening coms with the CIC officer on the bridge, "Requesting permission to act as combat commander."

He waited for a couple of seconds, checking out the other units that had been scrambled. Two Duel units with assault shrouds equipped, one Buster unit, and two Blitz units. "Permission granted, patching you through to all combat units," said a voice, which he assumed was the CIC officer, he would get names later. "Attention all pilot personnel, my name is Raven Foret, and I am the combat commander for the period of time until the battle or situation has come under control. I expect you to follow my orders to the best of your ability, understand?" He talked into his mic while maneuvering his suit out of the harbor and into the vast abyss of space. "Roger that!" Was the unanimous response.

He stopped, and checked his sensors, the Eternal had successfully launched, as well as all the _Archangel_-class and _Girty Lue_-class ships. He then did a search for the remaining ships, but was rewarded with only a message saying that the entirety of the ruble slowly floating out of the hanger was what has left of the _Izuma_-class ships. Raven swore under his breath and silently cursed those who did this.

"Aegis! This is bridge control! We have just spotted six _Girty Lue_-class ships en-route to our position! Intercept and eliminate them!" The CIC officer yelled into his mic. Raven growled, "Roger that. Alright everyone, you heard the man. Buster, form up behind me, Launcher Strike do the same. Aile Strikes, provide cover and support for the ships exiting the hanger, Duel units, do the same. Alright, Let's move out!" Raven said, his personality that got him top marks and scores at the academy coming out. He transformed his suit, and took off in cruise mode. "Scanners indicate six large carriers of the _Girty Lue_ class. Be prepared to face wave upon wave of enemies, is that clear?" He called into the mic again, controlling his suit so that he was headed towards where the signals of the transports were coming from. "Yes sir!"

"Armageddon, how many units can you launch?" Raven asked, while one of the carriers came into visual view. His suit entered its mobile armor attack mode, and his Scylla cannon bared its fangs to the enemy. He didn't hesitate to fire. A beam of red and white pierced through dark depths of space, tearing through the enemy carrier, and destroying whatever complement was on board. "We can launch another Buster, but that's all. We've run out of pilots!" The CIC officer responded to his previous question. Raven grinded his teeth, "Do it! Tell the Dominion to launch another Launcher Strike, and Buster if they can. Also, patch me into the Archangel feed, I want to talk to Captain Romius." His demands were met when he heard her voice through his helmet a second later. "Captain! I am requesting that you send out whatever you can to aid in your escape, preferably a Sword Strike unit and a Launcher Strike unit. Also, can you tell me the situation?" He yelled through the mic, as if she could hear him already.

"Roger Lieutenant Commander, I will send out reinforcements right away. The current situation has it at this, the six Izumo-class ships docked exploded, one at a time, right after the harbor control room detonated. We are to retreat and make our way to a safe zone, LaGrange eight," the Captain replied, causing Raven to cuss out loud. "What's the ETA for back-up from the Artemis II base?" He hissed into the coms line, to which he already knew the answer. "There isn't any."

Raven closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath in. "Armageddon, scan for more enemy ships, there are bound to be a couple more close by," he said into his mic, the world visualized on a blank behind his closed eyes. _Current positions are here, so then if they had more units, they could potentially wipe us out. However, Kira Yamato, he is our trump right now. But why the hell hasn't he sortied? _His eyes snapped open, and he opened a com line directly to the Eternal. "This is Lieutenant Commander Raven Foret acting Combat Commander. What are the Strike Freedom, and Infinite Justice's status?" He requested, holding his suit still. "This is Captain Waltfeld, Kira and Athrun are preparing to Sortie right now. However, there is ruble blocking the catapult, we will clear it before launching," said a gruff voice. "Understood."

"Enemy units launching from enemy ships four, five, and six. Checking library, they are Duel Daggers. Thirty-six units counted!" Raven instantly took off, not waiting to see if the units behind him were following. He activated the Scylla cannon once more, planning to take out their other two ships before they could launch more units. He raced towards the two ships, taking a few second to line up both ships, and he fired.

Once again a red and white beam pierced the cold black darkness of space and ripped through the two ships. He grinned, watching them explode, destroying them and everything on board. A alarm went off in his cockpit as four Duel Daggers surrounded him. _Shit, should have been paying more attention._ He spun his suit around, before transforming. He was now facing two of the suits, with two behind him. "Now die!" He yelled, lunging at the two before him in one quick motion with his beam sabers, but at the last second twisted, and activated the beam sabers on his feet. He sliced the two suits in half at the midsection, and threw a beam saber into another's torso, before bearing down on the last one and finished it off with a single swipe of his beam saber.

He transformed his suit again, taking on Cruise mode and shot towards the rest of the battle. "Update me control, how many more units have been launched?" He called into his mic, not waiting for a response before slicing through another Dagger, and shooting another with his beam rifle.

"Twenty additional Duel Dagger units have been launched by the enemy; the Archangel launched two Strike units and a Buster. The Dominion has launched the Justice, another Launcher Strike, and an Aegis."

"Send the Launcher Strike units to engage the enemy vessels, have them destroy them. Send the Aegis and the Buster to help defend our _Girty Lue_-class ships. Is the_ Etern-_"

"The enemy carriers have launched two Chaos units!" The voice interrupted Raven, who was in the middle of giving a command. "Shit. Send the Justice my way, is the Freedom ready?"

"Negative, but the Captain has recommended you take the Dreadnaught."

_Dreadnaught? What the hell is that? _"Roger, coming in for an emergency landing, prep the Dreadnaught for launch," Raven said, taking his superiors advice. He changed his course and headed towards the Armageddon, transforming his suit in the process. He slowed his suit down, and impacted with the wire net. As soon as it stopped moving, a large door close, pressurizing the area, and another opened. He immediately opened the hatch, and jumped out. He looked at the closest mechanic, who simply pointed across the hanger at a white mobile suit.

He nodded at the man and shoved off the torso of the Aegis, headed towards the mobile suit. He arrived at it, and grabbed the seat. He pulled the straps over himself, and buckled them. The seat lowered and the cockpit of the machine was revealed to him. It was very similar to the Freedom', but it had a few extra things. He felt a small lurch as he was loaded onto the catapult. "Loading Dreadnaught with DRAGOON pack," came a mechanical voice over his coms. He didn't pay much attention to it though, he was too busy looking at the machine's OS. He was able to grasp the basics on how to pilot the suit, but as for using the DRAGOON system properly, well, he wasn't willing to take the risk. He looked at the launcher counter, and watched it turn red. "Raven Foret, eradicating the enemy," he said, right before the top launch screen turned a light blue, followed quickly by the two below it. And with that, he was thrown out into the void once more. He raised his beam rifle and fired; it pierced through the black sky and tore through a Dagger. He continued to head to the spot where he had been.

"Hey there, didn't think we'd be in combat so soon," came a voice that seemed to float over his coms. Raven grinned, "Who cares, we get to see it anyways. Shall we fight?

"Lets," came the response. Raven grinned, and flicked a couple of switches, to which responded by releasing the Pristis Beam Reamers on his waist. They flew around enemy units, causing confusion, and sowing the seeds of chaos on the battlefield; which was their specialty.

As he continued, Raven grew more and more excited, destroying one Dagger after another. Until he ran out of suit to destroy. Unlike Raven, Alex in the Justice didn't engage the enemy mobile suits, but instead took out their carriers, and he didn't get so sadistic or have the same bloodlust that Raven got.

"Raven! Snap out of it! Snap out of it!" Alex called over the coms. There was no response. He knew why his friend got like this. His friend had a lot of anger, though he may never show it outwardly, the fact that he has this immense anger is still true nonetheless. It was all the pent up anger, frustration, and hate he had from everything in his life. Alex had seen how bad Raven's rage would get, and saying what was happening now was mild was a bit of a hyperbole.

Raven shook his head, and he felt his normal conscious return. He hated it when that happened. Alex had often made fun of him by calling him a berserker, but the Raven it was a serious condition. He need to learn how to control his bloodlust. "I'm alright now Alex. Thank you. We should be getting back to our ships to figure out what exactly had happened. Those guys seemed like the Earth Federation based upon their mobile suits, and ships," Raven said, blinking multiple times.

"I agree, we'll talk when we can, ok?" Alex said, turning the Justice to face the six ships in the distance. "Sure. Alright, lets return to base," Raven said with a smile.

|l-l|

"The attack failed? Six of our ships didn't destroy them? Well now, that most certainly is unexpected. Did the Freedom or Justice launch? Oh? Only the Justice? How interesting." The voice was deep, and had a slight lisp to it. It belonged to an individual in a dark room, with a computer monitor in front of him. He sat in a chair in front of a desk, which had a monitor, and a large microphone on it. "Oh? So you think that if we send even more they'll eventually surrender? Well then, let me teach you something. If six of our ships can't defeat them, and instead they defeated us, who had the element of surprise, and took out six of their ships, and set warheads all over that Apollo base. What makes you think that they will surrender. Just those ships could destroy our entire armada, however, the time in which the defeated us is astounding. They must have an excellent combat commander in order to be able to do that. Alright, the next attack will be upon the PLANTS. We are going to destroy Armory One."

**Now, I know there is a lot of stuff in this chapter, believe me, I know. But most of it is relevant, just so that you don't think I'm over pacing it, or making one of the characters too powerful. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review, I accept everything. I don;t care what it is you have to say, just say it! :P And the next chapter should be out tomorrow. Right now we're going at a chapter a day, that may change in the future though. Anyways, come back and read the next chapter!**


	6. Chapter 6 - Devestation

**Sorry about the wait for this chapter, I've been having a bit of trouble with my computer lately. Hope you enjoy!**

Chapter Six – The Order

When Raven landed on the catapult deck, and waited for the section to pressurize, he noticed that the red alarm lights were still blinking, and the alarm hadn't been turned off yet. The door opened, and the rack the Dreadnaught was stored on started moving back into its storage position. Raven exited the cockpit, while unbuckling himself, and pushed off the seat towards the lift door. Before he could reach it, he was cut off by a familiar face.

"What the hell were you doing out there? _I'm _the combat commander to this ship! Got it? Understand?" the torrent of words was let out by none other than Miss. Freya Laurence. Raven glared at her, "Look, I don't have time to let you play house out there on the battlefield. My top scores at the Academy were for my Marksmanship, and for my combat forecasting. That's what got me my status of Ace. If you want the position of Combat Commander, than take it, I'm not stopping you. However, if I ever see you slack off, slow down, freeze up, or make a critical error, I won't hesitate to take command again. You weren't even launched onto the battlefield this time, so I found it reasonable that I take over, do you understand me?" Raven finished his lecture as the two finished gliding to the lift door. She growled, and had an expression that made it obvious that she did not like it, but she still said, "Yes sir."

Raven nodded before pressing the button to call the lift. "I'm sorry. I know I must sound like an arrogant bastard who thinks he knows everything even though he's fresh out of the academy, but I want you to know that I am here to work as a member of the crew," he said, looking her in the eyes. She looked away, and he pulled out his dog tags. "Name, Raven Foret. Rank, Lieutenant Commander. Blood Type, AB Negative. Height, six foot, four inches. Weight, one hundred eight two pounds. Eye color, azure. Hair color, Black. Date of birth, December seventh fifty-eight Cosmic Era. Current age, sixteen. Pilot. Suit piloted, ZGMF-X10A Freedom. Field position, independent combatant. Assigned ship, Armageddon. That's everything about my position here in the military, and my personal physical information. It's not grand, and it's not a major part, but at least it's something I can have pride in," he said before turning and entering the lift, and closing the door behind him before she could respond.

He leaned against the back wall of the lift, and sighed. What was going to happen next? What is Orb going to do about having secret fleet attacked as it is launching for the first time? He shook his head, he would get answers as soon as he got to the bridge.

The lift slowed to a halt, and Raven took a step forward to exit it, but stopped as the doors opened and revealed a corridor instead of the bridge. He grunted and leaned back onto the wall as a pilot in a blue pilot's suit walked in. The man had average features, brown eyes, sandy blond hair, and the occasional freckle. He wasn't bad looking, nor was he exceptionally handsome.

"Who the hell are you?" The man said, his voice gruff and raspy. Raven simply looked away and ignored him. The man grabbed the collar of Raven's suit, and yanked him towards him, "Did you not hear me you little shit? I asked who. The hell. Are you!?" Raven looked in the mans eyes, and saw the relentless madness in them. His on azure blue eyes reflected in them, showing his own deep loathing of the man. "I am Lieutenant Commander Raven Foret. And I would suggest you remove your hands from me," he said, his voice cool, calm, and even tempered. The man's grip on his collar tightened, but he let go after a couple of seconds.

Raven adjusted his collar so that it was the same as before. "So what unit do you pilot?" He asked, trying to change the pace of the silence. The man looked at him, before answering, "I pilot a Ootsukigata, Sir." There was a bit more than a little sarcasm in his last word. Raven decided to drop the subject, no need to poke the beast further.

The lift door opened, and the immediate jumble of voices startled Raven. It was chaos on the bridge, and Raven had no clear options to find out what was happening. The captain was looking at a read out on her screen; the coms officers were going nuts over the coms, which Raven assumed was them trying to find out what was going on.

"Captain!" Raven called out, trying to get her attention, but got hers and everyone else's in return. Silence descended upon the bridge. "Do we have actual facts backing our theories at the moment, or is it all still conjecture?" Raven broke the silence, by asking the captain the question directly, disregarding formalities and rank.

The captain turned her head to look at him, a dull empty look in her eyes. A couple of tears were dripping down her cheeks as she stared at Raven. "Captain?" One of the officers said, but no sign of recognition of the voice was displayed on her face. More tears dripped down her face, then they stopped. She never blinked as her tears glands become swollen, or as her make-up was ruined. She didn't even try to wipe her face. She just stared at Raven, hopelessness in her eyes.

"The federation. They did it. They- they fired fourteen nuclear missiles at Orb, and destroyed it completely. Only around a fifth of the population managed to evacuate. The report just came in," she said, before starting to cry again. This time she didn't hold anything back, her sobs filled the bridge, as the others stared at her in disbelief. Raven immediately felt betrayal, then hatred, then he felt like someone was just playing a huge prank on him. The surge of emotions after that was too much for him, he tried to fight it, but in the end lost consciousness.

|l-l|

"The hell?" Exclaimed one of the people in the room. "Why the hell would the Federation attack Orb? That doesn't make any sense!" The young man stood up out of his chair. He stood at an average height, had messy black hair and bright green eyes. His voice was a bit on the higher side for someone of his age.

The older man who stood at the front of the room looked at him, a hard look on his face. "You may be a red coat, but that doesn't mean you can interrupt me in the middle of your briefing. Now, let me continue," the man said, staring into the boys eyes. The boy sat down, staring at his feet. "Now, as I was saying the Earth Federation launched twenty four intercontinental ballistic missiles at the Orb Union, each one armed with a nuclear warhead. Ten of them did not directly hit their island nation, but the remaining fourteen razed them. We also have new intel that their secret military base, codename Apollo, was sabotaged at the same time the nukes struck. Intel released onto their network in the confusion says that twelve ships were docked, ten of which were to form their next fleet. We have accurate information that the ships docked there were six Izumo-class ships, three Archangel-class ships, the Eternal, and two Girty Lue-class ships. All the Izumo-class ships detonated, whether simultaneously or not, we have not confirmed at this time. Anyways, the remaining six ships launched successfully, but encountered an enemy force comprised of six Girty Lue-class ships. The two Girty Lue-class ships and the Eternal were unable to launch any mobile suits due to debris blocking their catapults, so the three Archangel-class ships in turn launched mobile suits. I'm guessing that because of the confusion only a certain amount of pilots were able to launch in time. Eleven units were able to launch before the incoming carrier could launch any. Following the launch, there had been immediate Chaos on the coms with the pilots, but one of the pilots managed to get them under control and successfully work together with them. Three of the carriers launched a total of thirty-six units, which were confirmed as Duel Dagger units. Immediately after, the command unit, which has been confirmed as a GAT-X303 Aegis, used its Scylla cannon to destroy one of the carriers that had yet to launch any mobile suits. Soon after, the same unit destroyed the other two carriers that had not launched any units yet. Then that same unit retreated back into one of the Archangel-class ships. Shortly after, a unit was launched which proceeded to destroy over two thirds of the enemy forces. Meanwhile the other units took out the rest and the remaining carriers. Unfortunately we have yet to confirm the details, and are offering aid to Orb at this moment. Our job is to track down where those ships came from, we suspect they were from the Earth Federation, but as too where and how they were manufactured is still unknown to us. Once we find where they were deployed from, we will confirm their affiliation, then destroy them. The information we find out will be sent directly to the information bureau, and after that we will be sent our next orders. So the 1st Independent tactical fleet of the Zodiac Alliance Federation Treaty will be christened and launched within six hours, is that clear!" He said, looking at the people assembled before him.

"Understood!" They all called back in unison. One of the Voices was a little late, the same one from before. "Dismissed!" He said, watching everyone stand up and stretch. As everyone started to file out, he called out, "Egon Oberst, stay here. I want to talk to you." The young man who had interrupted him before stopped walking towards the exit, and turned towards him. "Sir?" He said, slowly beginning to wade through the crowd and make his way to him.

"According to the intel we have on that battle, two Chaos units appeared on the field. It seems they vanished. They weren't destroyed, nor were they ever seen again, so I want you to go out in the Impulse when we get to the area the fight took place in, you are to locate them, and eliminate them." The man said, the same deadly seriousness in his eyes as there had been when he had just given that briefing. Egon raised his finger to his brow in a salute and said, "Roger Sir!"


End file.
